Olona

by Gerry Labiste and Thad Hegerberg

Once Vital, Now Forgotten

Significance in Hawaiian Culture -- So important was
the olona plant to the early Hawaiians, that it was grown in small
plantations and was the only endemic species and the only non-food
plant grown in that manner. This is certainly evidence of its
great value to the natives, but it is only part of the story.
In a society without nails or man-made fibers, olona fibers had
many, many important uses in the Hawaiian culture. The white cordage
derived from the fibers was highly valued for its lightweight
and exceeding great strength under duress. Therefore it was also
often used for bartering in the Hawaiian community.

Taxes were paid to the King after the fall harvest during the
Makahiki, and the monarchy received many of these payments in
the form of olona. The ali'i, or royalty, had many uses for this
valuable commodity, including its use in the making of the royal
kahili (a cylindrical plume of feathers on tall poles associated
with the ali'i), feathered images of the Hawaiian gods, and for
the fabrication of the royal cloaks, capes and helmets.

Still further evidence of the value of olona developed after
contact was made with sailors from the Western world. Sailing
ships traded for miles of rigging made from olona, considered
to be better in every way than conventional rigging, which was
twice the diameter. This, in turn, was important to the Hawaiians
because it afforded them bargaining power with the sailors to
trade the olona for things newly arrived from the outside world
- things which the Hawaiians strongly desired to possess.

After the plants were cut and stripped, offerings
were made before spinning
the fibers began. Prayers such as this one were also said.

Growing Environment -- Handy and Handy (1972) reported
that olona grows in "boggy interior valleys" and "upland
areas", and Kamakau (1976) described olona habitat as rainy,
marshy, mossy, in mountainous areas, often near banana trees.
Although it is not common today, this rain forest shrub can still
be found on all six major islands in the gullies of lower elevation
forests, near the 2,000-foot level, and near streams.

Although olona still grew in wild clumps, the Hawaiians grew
it in patches and, if space allowed, in large plantations of up
to two acres. Stalks were encouraged to grow straight and tall
and close to one another to reduce branching. Lateral branches
were regularly removed from upright stems to reduce the number
of holes in the fiber. In a year to eighteen months the plants
were mature enough to harvest. They were 6 to 10 feet tall, and
the bark could be easily stripped at this young age

Identification -- Olona, Touchardia latifolia, is a wood
shrub endemic to Hawaii. Though it is a member of the Urticaceae,
stinging nettle family, olona is free of stinging hairs. The plant
is characterized by its prominent stipules, which are two to three
inches long. The leaves are large, 9 to 16 inches long and 5 to
9 inches wide, ovate in shape with serrated (fine-toothed) margins,
three distinct veins, and green on both sides. Male flowers are
borne in dense clusters, 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter and 3 to 5
inches long. Female flowers are borne on smaller heads in shorter
clusters. The fruit is roundish and mulberry-like, and at maturity
it is bright to dull orange and is fleshy.

Preparation -- The processing sheds were normally constructed
near running water, since water was used in the process of extracting
the fibers from the mature olona stems. The bark was first carefully
stripped and hung to drain in the shed. After draining, the strips
were laid in the running water for a day or two.

Next the strips were placed on a narrow board, fastened securely
at the top of the board, and then scraped with a tool called the
uhi, made from the backbone of a turtle or a segment of its shell.
After drying and after the removal of the outside bark, the resulting
product was a mass of fine white fibers, which were then dried
in the sun. At the same time workers were separating the clean
strong fibers into various widths, and bundling them into rolls
for the return to the village.

There they were bleached in the sunlight and later twisted
by the village women into fine cordage of varying thicknesses.

Raw olona fibers being prepared with a scraper prior to spinning
into cord.

Finished Products -- In Hawaii Nei, olona was the main
fiber used for aho, fishing line, where the no-kink and no-stretch
factors were very useful. Fishnets with large mesh, upena, as
well as finer fishnets, and net bags for carrying containers,
koko, were also crafted from olona fiber. To prolong its life,
it was often treated with kukui oil.

An ancient net maker bartered dogs, loads of fish, and food
from his field and taro lo'i in exchange for 4,000 or more strands
of olona fiber, which his wife would braid into cord for the net.
A fine-mesh net for catching small fish might take a year to complete.
The size of the cord increased when larger four and five-finger
nets were made for catching big fish such as ulua and papio.

Carefully crafted olona fibers also made up the net base that
provided backing for the exceptionally fine feather cloaks, ahu'ula,
as well as for some of the feather helmets, mahiole, and for ti
leaf capes, ahu la'i. Kahili feather standards were wound with
olona cord, and olona cordage was superior for tying adz heads
to hau wood handles.

Other uses for olona in ancient Hawaii were as threads for
stitching together kapa, tapa bark cloth, into garments, for stringing
and wrapping all manner of lei, to tie off the umbilical cord
after a birth, for canoe lines, stretching drum skins over drums,
and for every possible purpose that we today might use rope, twine,
string or thread.

Olona cordage has been replaced by nylon and other synthetics
of modern technology, but its incredible strength has not lessened
by comparison. Olona could still be used in communities or cultures
that produce their own cordage, for it is superior to hemp and
agave. The strands are also rather soft and one can imagine their
use in clothing. Olona has been forgotten, however, except in
places remote from modern society where it is still cultivated
on a small scale.

A feather representation of the war God Kuka'ilimoku, the personal
God of Kamehameha the Great. The figure was first covered with
a fine olona netting followed by hundreds of small clusters of
feathers held together with olona threads.

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